27 Jan 2009 // 7:59 PM

There can be no doubt that the summer of 2008 stands as a high-water mark for superheroes. But in the wake of a superhero renaissance and the growing cultural legitimacy of the genre, the question must be posed: Has the superhero genre evolved beyond the comics medium?

9 Aug 2002 // 12:00 AM

20 Jun 2002 // 12:00 AM

Based on a story published by Philip K. Dick in 1956, 'Minority Report' is science-fiction of the sort that Dick preferred to write -- set in the future, but all wrapped up in concerns that are immediately relevant to the present moment (that the same concerns were relevant back in 1956 is not a little unnerving, as will become clear).

1 Jan 1995 // 12:03 AM

It's a Depression-era musical laid on top of a chain gang escape film, inspired at once by Homer's 'The Odyssey' and Preston Sturges' screwball comedies. But outrageous as it might seem, this ultra-high-concept project suffers from a lack of inspiration.

1 Jan 1995 // 12:03 AM

This is easily O's most cogent insight, which it hits hard and insistently -- the ways that longstanding cultural anxieties about race in the U.S. continue to affect young people's individual and community relationships, just as it affects adults.